


To Chase Away The Nightmares

by FaygoMayhem



Series: Song Of Sleep [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Dream Eater Riku, KH3 spoiler, M/M, Music, Nightmare Riku, Suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 02:26:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18228659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaygoMayhem/pseuds/FaygoMayhem
Summary: Riku brings Sora to the Symphony of Sorcery, hoping to wake his heart from a deep sleep. In the dream, he comes face to face with his worst Nightmare.





	To Chase Away The Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> I really wish I could say I planned this sequel when I wrote the first part.....but I didn't. The idea just wouldn't leave me alone, so now we have an actual plot to go along with the weird events happening on Sora's end of the story, yay. 
> 
> Like its counterpart, this fic comes with a soundtrack found [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-xaAUh9667QdCq9rwrVy5uQy5qoHqRzX)
> 
> Most of the songs are the same from Sora's side, but two new ones have been added for Riku. Jupiter, from Gustav Holst's the Planet Suite, and Lux Aeterna by Clint Mansell. New songs are designated by a (-) symbol in the text, a *-* symbol is used for starts and stops in the music, the - symbol is used for a song change, and * is for a movement change within the same song. Please note that while Jupiter is a fantastic song from beginning to end, in the fic it is only meant to play until the 4:57 mark. 
> 
> Once again, it is not necessary to read with music, but its written with the songs in mind. 
> 
> Well that's enough of my rambling, on with the show!

Six months.

Six long, terrible, months since their battle against Xehanort and the only thing the world had to show for it was that Sora was still missing. Kairi had shown up on the Destiny Islands not two days after Sora left to bring her back, alone and crying softly, and told everyone the story of their best friend heroically coming to the rescue once again, only to be lost in the darkness on the return trip home.

Riku wouldn’t hear it. Riku _refused_ to listen to the others go on as if Sora was lost to them forever. He himself had claimed more than once, to anyone that would listen, that Sora could get lost in any darkness and swim his way out. There was no way he was gone. There was no way _his Sora_ would never return, not when he could still feel the connection of their hearts.

So he waited, and waited, and waited; but Sora never came home.

Riku rolls over on his mattress, doomed to yet another night of tossing and turning around in his room trying to calm his thoughts and worries long enough to finally get some rest. The only way he got a full night’s sleep these days was to completely exhaust himself, and it was starting to take quite a toll on both his body and mind. He’s tired and lonely so he thinks of Sora; and thinking of Sora keeps him awake. On and on it goes until the morning sun is peeking through his bedroom window and he gets up to face another empty day.

This night, he’s worn down enough that after only an hour of restlessness, he’s able to shut his eyes.

 

-

_The only thing he knows is pain. Pain of being, pain of knowing, pain of feeling.  There isn’t a single outlet for the agony welled up inside of him; nothing he can do, no where he can go. All he can do is sit, wait, and hurt, hurt, hurt._

_‘He’ll come for me,’ The thought is followed by a white-hot burning that starts somewhere in his chest and shoots from the top of his head down to the tip of his toes. ‘I know he will,’ the pain clouds his vision and he shuts his eyes, collapsing to the formless ground beneath him. His mind breaks as he feels his heart crack into pieces. Deep into the darkness, he falls._

“Sora!”

Riku’s eyes snap open and he shouts to the empty room. He leaps out of bed, careless to how much noise he’s making in the middle of the night, and runs up the entirety of the long, spiraling, staircase that makes up the majority of the Mysterious Tower. At the master’s chamber, he pounds and kicks at the door, crying hysterically, until his legs refuse to support him any longer. He slides to the floor, covering his eyes with an arm and brokenly sobbing against the door frame until Master Yen Sid rouses with the commotion and opens the door.

“Riku? What ever is the matter with-,” the Master is cut off as a hand clutches the bottom of his robe.

“Please, Master, Sora…..we have to save him,” Riku is so out of breath the words only come out as a desperate whisper. The Master narrows his eyes and helps Riku to his feet. He walks on shaking legs before collapsing in a chair that materializes out of the air and taking deep breaths to try and calm himself enough to speak.

Master Yen Sid sits in the chair behind his sturdy wooden desk and strokes his beard while waiting for Riku to collect himself. When he seems more in his right mind, the old wizard clears his throat and steeples his fingers on top of the desk, “Now, tell me what troubles you.”

Riku inhales and shuts his eyes, wincing when the memory of the pure agony he’d experienced in the dream resurfaces. “I think Sora is back in the Sleeping Realm,” he eventually gets out. Master Yen Sid widens his eyes as Riku continues, “I felt him in a dream. He’s in pain….so much pain. We have to do something or he really is going to be lost forever.”

The Master sighs and continues wistfully stroking his beard as he speaks toward the ceiling, “I should have known this would happen. Forgive me, Riku, but it seems that even in my boundless wisdom there are still some things I overlook.”

Riku’s head snaps in his direction, “What do you mean?”

“I should have foreseen that your connection to Sora would remain intact as long as he existed, in some form, within a realm that you have access to. I should have seen it, and done more to prepare you for the eventuality. As you are his Dream Eater, Sora’s emotions are able to flow freely through your heart link; I can only imagine what you must have experienced on his behalf.”

“You knew he was alive all this time? Why would you act like he was lost?” Riku is stunned motionless in his chair, shaking with the anger flaring up inside him.

“Because he is. To this realm, at least. To return Kairi to this world, Sora sacrificed the tether allowing him to find his way back and has since been lost to the either. While your hearts will always be connected, I fear that his has permanently broken. Since his departure he has blinked beyond my reach, and I have not been able to sense him,” The Master bows his head in sorrow and shame.

“But now we know where he is. We can find him, fix him, and bring him home,” Riku growls out, already sensing where the conversation was headed, and unwilling to back down.

“Do not forget what put Sora in this predicament to begin with,” the Master warns, “the Power of Waking is a heavy burden to those who use it thoughtlessly. I fear that to retrieve Sora at this point would be to lose yourself. It is a cycle that would only perpetuate should you succeed in returning him at all.”

“I WON’T SIT BY AND LET HIM SUFFER!” Riku stands from the chair and flips it over. In a blind rage he storms over to the shelves by the walls and knocks their contents to the floor. He throws everything within his reach, screaming madly at the world, until he exhausts himself again and collapses to the ground.

Master Yen Sid stands and walks over. With a single wave of his hand, he returns the room to its previous state then lays it on the shoulder of the grieving boy, “Peace, Riku.”

Riku breaks. Everything he had stopped himself from feeling for the past six months comes crashing down upon him in a single wave and he sobs into his Master’s robe like he never has before. He sobs until there’s nothing left, before he finally shuts his eyes and gives in to the mercy of sleep.

When he wakes Kari is sitting on his bed, sadly stroking his hair. He sits up and looks around, eyes landing on her pitying expression, “I guess you heard?”

 His voice is raw, and sounds like he just dry-swallowed a toad. Kairi looks away, “I think the whole tower heard.” 

“I won’t give up on him,” his hands curl into fists at his side and Kairi strokes his arm.

“I know,” she sighs, covering his hand with hers, “I’m not here to stop you, just to say goodbye. I’ve never been able to say it, so this time I had to.”

He squeezes her hand, and reaches up to gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “This isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back, and I’m bringing him with me. There is no other option.”

Tears fall silently onto her cheeks as he stands. She sits on his bed with her head down as he quickly dresses, then stands to give him a hug. He holds her tightly, promising with everything he has they’ll both come back, and pulls away to kiss her forehead. Pointing his keyblade at the wall, he opens a doorway to the Realm of Sleep and shuts his eyes before stepping through.

-

He can’t remember how it happened, or why they came, but sometime later Riku flies out of dive and  lands in Traverse Town. Sora sleeps peacefully in his arms, safe and unaware of the world around them. Even though Riku had somehow managed to bring Sora back from wherever it was he trapped, the mission still wasn’t over.

He sets his sleeping friend gently down on the front steps of the First District and pulls out his keyblade, prepared to dive deep into his heart again to wake him. He’s stopped in his tracks by another boy materializing next to him.

“That won’t work,” the blonde boy warns, placing a hand on Riku’s arm to bring it down.

“Joshua,” Riku acknowledges, for once actually happy to see the cryptic and mysterious boy.

Joshua smiles, looking over at Sora with a slightly condescending expression, “He’s sleeping again.” He sighs, knowingly, and crosses his arms in front of him, “He’s in a lot of pain.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Riku mutters under his breath. The blonde narrows his eyes and flips his hair over his shoulder.

“Fine,” he walks over Sora, hands on his hips as he observes the sleeping boy, “His heart is closed, even to you. Try and dive in there and you won’t ever come back.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that,” Riku growls, “but I can’t just do nothing.”

Joshua puts a hand over his chin, rubbing his face as he thinks. Suddenly his eyes widen, and he sticks a finger in the air, “I’ve got it! You should take him to the Musical Realm.”

“The Musical Realm?”

“It’s a place that only exists in dreams; I believe you know it as the Symphony of Sorcery. The Musical Realm is shaped by the individual visitor. The dreamer forms the environment and creates a song that reflects what the person is thinking and feeling. Everything that happens within the Musical Realm is a product of emotion. If Sora’s heart is closed because of dark thoughts and feelings, this might be the only way to bring him back. Take him to the Musical Realm and have him confront his own darkness.”

Riku’s eyes fall on Sora’s sleeping form. It’s hard to believe he can keep looking so peaceful with the amount of pain he’s been in. He’ll do _anything_ to put a smile back on his face. “To the Musical Realm it is then,” he scoops Sora back into his arms and settles him comfortably.

“Just like that?” Joshua crosses his arms and smirks over at him.

“It’s the only lead I’ve got. Might as well give it a try.”

The blonde shakes his head, smiling, “You two really are something.”

Riku smiles down at the boy in his arms and nods, “Yup.” He lifts his arm again and opens another keyhole, but Joshua stops him before he can go thorough.

“Just a warning; because Sora’s heart is sleeping, his mind won’t be active to help formulate the dreamscape. His emotions will be raw, and most of the experiences will likely be memories. Prepare yourself for the worst.”

Riku nods and steps through the portal.

They touch down at the Symphony of Sorcery inside the room that resembles Master Yen Sid’s chamber in the Mysterious Tower. The room is empty, save for a single stand in the center with a bank music score sitting atop it.

Riku sighs and sets Sora down. “This better work,” he tells the sleeping boy as he uses his keyblade to open the gateway to the Musical Realm.

He kisses Sora’s forehead and sends him through. The score shines and notes start to appear on the music staff, and it becomes tainted with a dark aura. Riku waits until the notes have filled the first pages of the score, then closes his eyes and dives in.

*-*

He finds himself in the middle of an autumn forest at the top of a tree. The world is bright with color and ringing in the background is a light, cheerful, melody that reminds him so much of Sora that it hurts. “ _Well, this isn’t so bad_ ,” he thinks to himself. Trust Sora to envision a world like this even while his heart is fractured.

“ _Better go find him_ ,” he leaps off the tree branch and flips in the air. Landing on the ground with his knees bent and arm in front of him. Opening his eyes, he startles at the vision in front of him; his arm is black. He stands and looks down at himself to find his entire form is black, much like anti-form of Sora he’d created way back when. He opens his mouth in surprise but no sound comes out, apparently he can’t speak like this.

“ _Great, how the hell am I supposed to help him when I look like a heartless? Is this what he really thinks of me_?” He shakes his head, putting his own hurt to the side in favor of focusing on his friend. Holding out his hand he calls for his keyblade, relieved when it forms. At least he wasn’t _actually_ a heartless, come to think of it he didn’t feel any different at all.

He starts walking, stopping when he hears a peal of familiar laughter sound out behind him. Looking over he can spot a pink and black blur he recognizes as Sora chasing down a darker black blur. If Sora is laughing he doubts there’s any danger yet. So he dismisses his keyblade and hops back up the tree to get a better idea of what was going on.

The two chase each other for a while, and he has to follow behind them while still trying to get a good look at  whatever is with his friend. Still, he can’t help but laugh silently as he watches their antics. It reminded him so much of….them.

Wait, this was not good.

Dashing closer, he finally gets a good look at the figure as it reaches the top of a hill. Sure enough, it’s an almost exact copy of himself. The figure turns and Riku gets a look at the sigil on its back. The symbol glows red and two jagged wing shapes grow from the point of a heart.

Sora is chasing a Nightmare.

Riku panics, dashing forward to knock the Nightmare copy of himself off the hill before Sora can reach it. The creature hisses at him and teleports away, and Riku thinks it might be the most terrifying thing he’s ever seen in his life. It reappears behind Sora at the top of the hill and cruelly shoves him off before Riku can reach it. It disappears again and Riku frantically looks over the hill for Sora, who is sliding down completely oblivious to what just happened.

Riku slides down after him, happy to see Sora grinning as he joins his side. Its obvious that Sora can’t tell the difference between himself and the Nightmare, but revealing that there were two of him might cause Sora to panic. He couldn’t afford to lose his trust, not yet. He stops worrying for a moment and lets himself enjoy the race. Just as they’re about to reach the bottom, Sora trips and rolls headfirst into a pile of leaves.

He slides to a stop and nearly falls over with silent laughter, oh how he had missed this. Sora glares and throws some leaves at him, and next thing he knows they’re wrestling on the ground like they did when they were kids. He pins his friend and looks down at him, suddenly struck by a sharp spike of pain in his heart at how nostalgic everything feels. Now he gets why the world around them hurts Sora.

As he’s helping Sora to his feet and picking the leaves out of his hair, Riku hears a rustling behind them. He nods for Sora to follow and takes off running into the trees again. The Nightmare taunts him as it teleports from place to place, keeping Riku from getting a good pin on its position. He’s about to give up and pull his keyblade to face it down when he’s suddenly tackled to the side and launched across the forest. The whole thing happened in a blur and the Nightmare is easily able to take his spot and trick Sora into jumping off the side of a cliff.

He leaps off the cliff himself, and is caught quickly by an updraft. Looking around desperately, he finally spots Sora and the Nightmare flying down into the trees. He kicks off the side of a cliff and manages to dash down ahead of them. He knocks the Nightmare aside as they glide across the water while Sora is distracted, forcing it to disappear again if it wants to keep up the charade.

Splashing water at Sora to get his attention, he takes off toward the edge of the cliff and lands on a rock. He doesn’t know what else to do so Riku grabs onto Sora’s hand as he marvels at the view and tries to think of some way to get through to him. Before Sora turns to look him, Riku sees a dark blast of energy coming toward them from the river and he tugs their joined hands to the edge of the rock. They leap off the cliff hand-in-hand, but as they fall Riku is frozen in place and Sora’s hand slips from his grasp.

*

He watches helplessly and Sora and the Nightmare reach the lake below. Magic freezes the water and everything around them as the Nightmare lets itself slowly sink down into an abyss of its own creation.  Sora cries watching it fall. The music turns slow and sad to reflect Sora’s feelings and Riku’s heart aches.

 He wishes more than anything he was able to shut his eyes against the recreated memory of himself being lost to darkness what now feels like a lifetime ago. The Nightmare grins smugly up at him at its head vanishes beneath the water. Bastard knew what it was doing to the both of them.

Suddenly he’s falling again as the spell dissipates. Sora is caught in a vortex of snow and heavy wind and as Riku tries to reach for him he gets swept up as well. They’re both launched into the distance toward a towering mountain and Riku shuts his eyes as he crashes.

-

A loud screeching followed by a swarm of fluttering echoes off the walls as Riku slowly picks himself off the ground. It’s pitch black and he can’t see anything around him, but he can make out a light flashing in the distance. As he stumbles toward it in the dark, an anxious melody sounds around him with rising intensity, putting his nerves on edge.

As he gets closer to the light he can hear rain falling and a booming clap of thunder shakes the ground he walks on, causing him to trip and stumble. Frightened, he charges forward blindly until he finally reaches open air. He braces a hand against the rock wall of the entrance to the cave he’d just run out of and bends to catch his breath, fighting to get his heart back to a normal rhythm.

He catches a glimpse of his own reflection in a puddle of rain water and blinks in confusion at the glowing pink eyes that stare back at him, “ _That’s weird, I could have sworn my eyes were yellow last time_.” He also notes that his face and hair have gotten a little more defined and he looks much more like a person than a heartless.

Before he has time to ponder the meaning any further, a pained growling startles him into looking up and he watches as a large cat-like shape falls off the side of the large mountain he’s at the base of and vanishes into thin air. “ _Sora_!” he springs into action, running toward the path leading up to the peak.

Part of the way up, he realizes he’s not going to make it in time running like this. He jumps and air slides up the side of the mountain instead, back flipping onto a ledge when he reaches the top. He sees Sora running away from a group of stopped Keeba Tigers and his heart grows cold when he spots the Nightmare blocking the path back down the mountain.

The creature seems to have grown more powerful than before, now shrouded in a visible wispy darkness that practically screams of malicious intent. It laughs at Sora and breaks the stop spell. Riku runs in, but is too late to stop the tigers from piling on Sora as one. The Nightmare snaps its fingers again and the tigers vanish, revealing Sora unconscious on the ground. It steps forward as Riku slides to a stop in front of Sora, holding up his keyblade defensively.

The Nightmare glares over at Riku and its eyes flash a menacing red before reverting quickly back to yellow. A dark and distorted version of his own voice sounds in Riku’s head, “ _You fool. You can’t protect him_.”

“ _Try me_ ,” Riku’s eyes narrow and digs his heels further into the ground.

The creature’s eyes glisten with mockery and Riku hears it scoff inside his head. “ _Oh yes, you have such a spotless track record of fighting yourself, don’t you?_ ”

“ _You’re not me_ ,” the words sound weak even in his own head and Riku winces.

The Nightmare chuckles darkly and smirks. “ _I am. The best parts of you anyhow. All the parts that shine when you’re with him_.”

It points over at Sora and Riku turns around to look, “ _What_?”

The Nightmare sighs in frustration and stalks forward to poke him in the forehead, “ _Do I have to spell out everything? I am Sora’s memories of you. Thoughts of you were causing him nothing but pain, so this world gave form to me._ ”

The spot on his head burns where the creature touched him and Riku swings at it with his keyblade. The Nightmare laughs and effortlessly teleports behind Sora. With a shout Riku dashes forward, again trying to knock it away, but is swatted out of the air and sent crashing to the ground.

Riku struggles back to his feet in searing pain from the touch of the Nightmare and runs back to Sora’s side, “ _Why are you trying to hurt him_?”

The Nightmare’s eyes narrow, “ _Hurt him? No. I’m helping him. The idiot’s been fighting against the darkness inside him so long he went and cracked his light. Of course, instead of doing the smart thing and just giving in, he stubbornly froze his heart to stop the damage and sent himself to sleep. Then you came along and brought him here to wake him up.”_ It smirks at him again and smugly crosses its arms, “ _I suppose I should thank you for that. Once Sora succumbs to his darkness his heart will heal, and the two of us will be unstoppable._ ”

Riku’s eyes widen and he curses himself; _stupid, stupid, stupid_. They all warned him, and he didn’t listen. Now he’s created an opponent he doesn’t think he could ever beat. He looks down sadly, “ _Sora will never give in to darkness._ ”

“ _Oh yes he will, it’s happening as we speak_ ,” A dark portal opens underneath were Sora lays and starts to drag him under. Riku desperately reaches for his hand but he’s gone before he do anything and he’s left grabbing at empty air. The Nightmare howls with cruel laughter, “ _Did you miss the part where I told you his light is already damaged? Without his power and the memory of what he fights for there’s no other choice; his darkness will swallow him whole. I’m just speeding up the process a bit_.”

Riku clenches his fist and gnashes his teeth, bringing his keyblade back into his hands and taking an offensive stance, “ _You won’t do this to him, I’ll never let it happen_.”

“ _You won’t stand a chance_ ,” the Nightmare snaps its fingers and dark vines shoot out from the ground, curling around Riku’s wrists to drag his arms down and winding around his legs to keep him from running. The more he struggles the tighter the vines get, until he’s incapable of moving at all.

The creature steps forward and gets in his face, “ _Before you go, I believe you have something that I need. Seeing as you’ve never done anything useful with it anyhow, I’ll be taking it._ ”

It places a hand on his chest and Riku screams in agony as it feels like he’s being torn in half. The Nightmare cackles with maniacal glee as dark power flows from Riku’s heart into its body, giving it strength and changing its form. When it’s over Riku slumps in exhaustion, still suspended by the vines. His vision begins to fade and all he sees in front of him is a humanoid blur of black, white, and red.

“ _Sweet dreams_ ,” the words echo in his head as the vines pull him down into the dark. Riku passes out.

(-)

The sun shines brightly, high in the sky above a vast ocean. Clear blue water shimmers and sparkles in the light and gulls circle overhead carried on a gentle breeze. The song in the air is bright, powerful, and invigorating; heralding the promise of boundless adventure. Riku’s eyes open, and he’s standing at the top of the mast in the center of a gigantic blue and white ship.

He laughs, the sound of his own voice as joyous and exhilarated as the music, and spreads his arms to the side basking in the sun. He shuts his eyes and breaths in; inhaling the crisp, salty, scent of the ocean, and revels in the feeling of the wind blowing in his hair.

He is _free_.

Someone calls his name from the deck bellow and Riku’s heart flutters. He slides down the mast and runs up the deck to the helm of the ship, where Sora stands grinning at him with his hands on the wheel. Tears brim at the corners of Riku’s eyes at the sight of him, and he walks over to stand behind Sora and wrap his arms around his waist. He holds him close, resting his cheek in the boy’s spiky brown hair and shuts his eyes. Everything he’s ever wanted is in his grasp.

Sora leans against him and together they both stare out at the ocean and watch as a pair of dolphins dive in and out of the water. They stay like that until Sora jolts in arms in surprise and excitement and starts tugging eagerly at Riku’s shirt sleeve. Riku looks over in the direction he’s pointing and sees an island coming into view from across the water. Not just any island, _their_ island.

As they gain closer, they can see Kairi jumping and waving her arms on the beach. He and Sora both wave at her in return with giant smiles on their faces. Together they run to the side of the ship and jump into the water to swim to shore and join her. When they make it to the beach, side by side, Kairi runs up and tackles them both.

 They catch her in a hug and all fall over into the sand, laughing and rolling around. Reunited, they all spring to their feet and take off running down the beach. Like children they chase each other a while, throwing sand and splashing water, before running off to their secret space. They each pick up a rock and together craft a beautiful mural of the three of them standing hand-in-hand watching the sky.

*

The sun drops below the horizon as they return to the beach. Kairi kisses the cheeks of both Sora and Riku and they pull her into a loving three-way hug. Parting with a squeeze, Kairi waves them both off and they return to their ship, sailing out into the sunset a fair distance.

Sora smiles and takes Riku’s hand as the ship lifts up off of the water and flies into the atmosphere. Stars rush beside them at light-speed as they soar through the cosmos past planets and nebulae off to a world they would create for themselves, far beyond the reach of others. Sora is perfect, looking absolutely radiant and ethereal bathed in starlight and Riku’s heart churns.

“ _Help_ ”

The word suddenly reverberates from Riku’s chest, staggering him and sending him to a knee. He looks up at Sora but he seems unaffected, looking down on him in confusion.

“ _Riku, help me_ ”

The voice is Sora’s, but it doesn’t belong to the person in front of him. He covers his ears, screaming as the call rings out in his head. Sora, the real Sora, needs him; he has to go. He looks up at the boy in front of him, and out at the beautiful world around him and a single tear falls from his eye.

“ _Stay_ ,” his own voice urges him from inside of his head. He knows he could, that he could remain here forever with everything he’s ever wanted. The call pulses in his chest again. He gets to his feet and pulls the dream-Sora to his chest. He tips his head back and puts a lifetime’s worth of love and longing into a single kiss upon his lips.

“Goodbye,” he whispers, then jumps into the air to close his hand around the Nightmare’s End.

-

He’s pulled into a chasm of fire, and together he and Sora swing their combined keyblade to fell the angry, dark, clone of Sora and send it crashing into the lava beneath them. They touch down on the rock that served as a battlefield and Sora looks to Riku and shoots him a tired grin and a thumbs up. Overwhelmed, Riku mirrors the gesture.

Suddenly, the rock shakes and they both are thrown off balance. Fire spews around them as the rock they’re standing on is lifted into the air and shot up and out of the dark. They’re launched into a forest and sent sprawling along the ground. Riku stands and helps Sora to his feet as the other boy looks around wildly, clearly bothered by something.

Both their eyes are quickly drawn to the dark Sora clone laying in wait at the top of a mountain. The clone winks and then changes into a roiling black mass of lava and starts creeping downward toward them. Trees and moss burst into flame and dissolve instantly as it passes, wild animals are sent running only to be caught and quickly immolated. The mass gains speed as it slides down the mountain and Riku turns to Sora to urge him to run, but finds him on his knees on the ground.

He’s giving up.

He can’t give up.

Riku won’t _let him_ give up.

As the mass rears back, prepared to engulf both of them in flame, Riku steps in front of Sora. He holds out his arms protectively, shielding him from the wrath of his own anger and hate. A brilliant light shines from his chest, strong and alive with his love for the boy behind him; his most cherished person. The light forms a barrier around them, protecting them both from the mass of darkness that crashes around them.

Sora looks up at him in awe and Riku smiles back at him. The mass dissipates, defeated once again, and the shield around them glows and then shatters. Light shimmers in the air, then fades down into Sora’s body and the forest returns to the way it was before the lava. Riku turns around and sees that Sora has fallen asleep, again. He shakes his head and bends to pick him up and carry him somewhere safe, but a black blur suddenly dashes out of the trees and knocks him backward.

(-)

The music turns slow and threatening. He quickly summons his keyblade to defend against several wild slashing attacks from a pair of red-tipped claws, then parries the attacker away and springs back up to his feet. In front of him is the Nightmare, seething with a darkness more sinister than anything he’s ever seen. The figure is still shadowed, but somehow more solid than before. Black horns sprout from the top of its head and angle back against a cascade of stark white hair. The symbol that used to be on its back now glows a gleaming red on its chest to match its hateful red eyes.

Riku is terrified.

He backs away as the Nightmare glares in his direction, “ _Why are you here? I gave you everything! I took your darkness, freed your mind, gave you the love of the boy you could never have; and you pay me back by ruining all my hard work?!? You truly are a fool._ ”

The words hiss in Riku’s mind, the sound now only barely recognizable as his own voice, and his every instinct is telling him to run away. Color drains from the world, plunging everything into an unsettling grey haze. The landscape flickers, then shatters to pieces, leaving them in a blank white void.

 The creature curls its claws and raises its arms; the floor splinters and cracks as two giant black masses raise into the air. From the tops of them other Nightmare shapes come spilling forth, each pitched back with glowing red eyes. The still sleeping Sora lifts into the air and is held high above Riku’s head like a prize.

The Nightmare snaps its fingers and everything goes black; thousands of pairs of red eyes stare up at Riku from the dark.

He runs and the cacophonous sound of stampeding Nightmares follows behind him. Roaring, stomping, growling, screeching, and fluttering, they add their own discordant symphony to the haunting melody already pursuing him. He runs as fast as he can for as long as he can, but the Nightmares still close in on him. As they swarm around him he screams. Phantom sensations of clawing, biting, squirming, and crawling spread to every part of his body.

The swarm lasts seconds and an eternity all at once. When it passes he looks up and sees Sora staring back at him. He reaches a hand out, desperate, and collapses. Sora sneers down at him and throws something his direction. Hollow thuds of wood echo in the empty void as a wooden sword drops in front of him.

“Go play hero with this,” Sora cackles and the floor beneath them shatters. Riku falls, and falls, and falls. He falls until he doesn’t remember what solid ground feels like anymore, and all he knows is a weightless abyss.

“ _Give up yet_?” the Nightmare taunts from inside his head.

Riku snaps his eyes open and he’s back on the Destiny Islands. Palm trees sway as waves gently crash on the beach. He collapses to his knees in the sand and screams. The Nightmare laughs inside his head and materializes next to him, smirking with a mouth of razor-sharp fangs.

“ _I see you finally get it_ , _you’re stuck here. You’ll be stuck here until your mind finally shatters, but I imagine that’ll take ages with how stubborn you are_ ,” the creature scoffs and points a claw down at him, “ _If you had only done as you were told you could have lived in the happy dream I made for you the rest of your life, but no. The knight in shining armor always comes to the rescue_.”

“ _I don’t want what isn’t real_ ,” Riku whispers into the sand.

Sora’s floating form descends from the sky and lands gently between Riku and the Nightmare. The creature smirks at him, red eyes gleaming in amusement, “ _Pity, nothing’s ever going to be real for you again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a heart to corrupt._ ”

The nightmare steps toward Sora and bends to pick him up, but its claws are deflected before it can get close to him. It snarls as its thrown back into the sand, “ _WHAT?!” How? How did you fix him? He’s supposed to be mine!_ ”

“ _I told you before_ ,” Riku chastises as he struggles to his feet, “ _Sora will never fall to darkness. I won’t let it happen. I’m his Dream Eater, and I exist to stop Nightmares like you from causing him pain_ ”

The symbol on Riku’s back glows with white light and the Nightmare staggers. Inky black tendrils of darkness start to flow from its form back into Riku. It snaps its eyes open and gives a dark chuckle, “ _I wouldn’t do this if I were you, you’re only taking back your own darkness._ ”

“ _I guess it’s a good thing you’re not me then_ ,” the power amplifies and the Nightmare is sucked into Riku’s chest, screaming and hissing all the way.

 “ _There’s no getting rid of me,”_ it promises before vanishing altogether.

*-*

Riku falls again to his knees as the darkness seeps back into his heart. It was a heavy feeling, but an almost welcome one after everything he’d just endured. He no longer felt pure and unstoppable, but at least he was complete again. He breaths a heavy sigh as waves continue to crash along the imaginary beach.

A small black sphere pops out of Riku’s chest and hovers in front of his face. He confused for a moment before it hits him, “ _Sora’s memories_.”

He pokes a single finger to the surface and the sphere ripples. Behind his eyes flashbacks of his entire life with Sora play at super speed, and his heart aches. The memories are still tainted in darkness. His power activates again and puts his whole hand on the sphere, sucking out the excess pain. Eventually the sphere turns golden with only a single ring of black around the edge. He’s tempted to purify the whole thing, but Riku leaves the ring alone. Those memories of him were actually supposed to be dark.

When he’s done he takes the sphere in both his hands and places it on Sora’s chest. It remains there for a second before he reabsorbs it, finally starting to stir. Riku smiles and scoops Sora into his arms, it was time to end this crazy dream.

He shoots them into the sky, leaving everything behind, and carries Sora high above the world. Sora moves in his arms as they fly, blinking awake for a few seconds at a time only to fall back under. Riku would let him sleep a little longer, he’d been through a lot. He spots a fluffy cloud off in the distance and decides to take him there.

As he sets Sora down on his feet he realizes his arms are back to normal; restoring Sora’s memory must have brought his true form back as well. As glad as that made him, Riku still didn’t think he’d be looking in the mirror for quite a while. When Sora stirs again Riku turns him around and walks him to the edge of the cloud where there first thing he sees when he opens his eyes would be the shimmering light of a thousand stars.

*-*

He knows the moment Sora opens his eyes, because the soft notes of their heart song start to ring out among the heavens. Riku is flooded with joy and relief; that song only plays when their hearts and minds are connected. His Sora was back.

He turns around and Riku smiles, holding out his hand, and Sora ignores it in favor of launching himself around his neck to nuzzle into Riku’s shoulder. He sniffles, hugging him tight to sob in his ear, “You found me.”

Riku’s heart clenches and he holds Sora tightly, he was never going to let him go again. “Of course I did,” he whispers, “I’ll always come and find you, no matter what crazy stunt you pull to get yourself lost.”

“Why couldn’t I see you? I didn’t know it was you until the end,” Sora pulls away to look at his face and Riku turns his head down.

“I think you might have….forgotten me, at least for a little while,” he explains sadly. It’s the barest possible explanation he can give, but it’ll do for now.

Sora pulls him in for another hug, “I’ve never forgotten you.”

“ _That’s right_ ,” Riku thinks, “ _Your heart remembered me_.”

What he says is, “I know, you couldn’t have called me otherwise. I’m guessing you just got your brain scrambled a little, again.”

Sora sheepishly rubs the back of his neck, “Guess I went in way over my head.”

“You think?” Riku accuses, glaring over at him. Not like he had much room to talk.

They laugh and look up at the sky, marveling at the stars as they dim and shine along with the tune of their heart song. Sora’s hand grips onto his and Riku threads their fingers together. There was nothing in any of his dreams that could ever be better than this.

 “How long do you think we have?” Sora asks.

“Probably not very long. It’s been….quite a while. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.” Riku tries to pull away, ashamed, but Sora won’t let him go.

“Don’t apologize,” Sora guides the hand he’s holding to his hip and releases it. “Dance with me?”

“Now?” Riku’s already moving with him as they position their hands and fall into a steady rhythm.

“No better time, this is only place we get to hear it,” Sora looks up to watch as colorful music notes fill the air, the melody growing louder as the two of them join together.

They sway together to the uplifting music of their hearts, circling around the cloud and laughing with tears in their eyes at how beautiful everything is. As they move Sora’s form begins to shimmer and glow with radiant light. Riku’s heart aches, but he’s sure they’ll be together again soon.

“Guess time’s up,” Sora sighs, crestfallen.

“We can do it again, for real this time, as long as you hurry back,” they stop moving and Riku kisses his head.

“What if…What if I get lost again?” Sora shakes in his arms, bowing his head as the tears spill over.

Riku wipes the tear from his eye and tilts his chin up, cradling Sora’s face in his hand, “Then I’ll come find you again.”

“Promise?” Sora’s eyes shine as he begins to fade away.

“Always,” Riku smiles and is left holding empty air as the light that was his friend drifts into the sky to become one with the stars. He wipes his own tears away as he watches the lights swirl and sparkle with the colored notes in the air. The dream eater sigil on his back glows as he, too, fades away, “Come back soon, Sora.”

*-*

Back in the waking world, in his room at the Mysterious Tower, Riku’s eyes flutter open. He’s flanked on both sides by Kairi and King Mickey whose worried expressions turn into smiles of joy as he stirs. Kairi flings her arms around his neck and he holds her tightly. When he pulls away he realizes he’s crying.

The memories of what happened in the dream world come slowly fading back and Riku closes his eyes and calls out with all his heart.

Three identical noises of surprise and delight sound in the room, and down the hall doors to other rooms slam open and their occupants cry out with glee.

He was home.

Together, every resident of the Mysterious Tower stampedes down the stairs just in time to watch a halo of light fall down from the sky and crash into a bush. Riku hangs back at the entrance as everyone swarms their fallen star with tearful smiles and ringing laughter. After a while the crowd parts and he locks eyes with his best friend. Everything disappears as Sora runs to him and Riku doesn’t even notice himself running to meet him. They collide in the center, gripping each other so tightly it hurt.

Sora sobs into his chest and Riku strokes his hair, his own tears falling just as hard. He leans down and whispers in Sora’s ear, “Welcome home.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> All the credit in the world for this fic goes to the amazing and talented PuppyGuppy, who had the first fic I'd ever seen involving the concept of Nightmare Riku. The story is incredible and can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18129344/chapters/42863405) if you'd like to give it a read. 
> 
> Whelp, I guess that's all for now. Thanks for reading!


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